Fast thinking by the master of a Mitsui OSK Lines car carrier has helped the ship fight off a pirate attack close to Tanzania, TradeWinds has learned.
A pirate mob fired rocket propelled grenades at the 5,232-vehicle Felicity Ace (built 2005) shortly after they had failed to take a fishing vessel yesterday in the same area.
Taking advantage of the increasing choppy seas at the start of the monsoon season the captain turned his ship into the swell.
This made it impossible for the skiff to keep pace with the Felicity Ace, which was able to escape, sources explain.
“It was good thinking by the master using the weather to his advantage,” one piracy expert said.
The car carrier was en route from Mombasa to Singapore with a crew of 26 on board when the pirates moved in yesterday.
This latest attack comes as pirates ramp up activity in the face of the approaching monsoon season.
A spate of attacks has taken place off Oman, but the pirates have so far enjoyed little success.
